Wednesday 14 April 2010 11.07 EDT
First published on Wednesday 14 April 2010 11.07 EDT

Vodafone, O2 and Orange have all signed up to supply the iPad to customers in the UK from next month.

Earlier today Apple admitted that high demand for the tablet computer means that its launch outside the US has been delayed until May. The Californian company will announce prices and open pre-orders on 10 May.

Apple is producing two versions of the device – one that only has short-range Wi-Fi technology and one that can access both Wi-Fi and 3G mobile phone networks. But users will not be able to merely insert their existing sim card into the iPad, because it uses micro-sims.

Neither O2, Orange nor Vodafone gave details of the actual prices they will charge iPad users for mobile broadband access.

In a statement Vodafone merely said it will offer "dedicated iPad price plans for all models from the end of May in Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK".

O2 said it will offer "dedicated iPad price plans for all models from the end of May in the UK".

Orange said it will offer "dedicated iPad price plans for all models from the end of May in France, UK, Spain and Switzerland".

In the UK, Vodafone, Orange, O2 and T-Mobile have all been chasing after the iPad and executives from the four networks are understood to have mhad meetings with Apple to discuss the device. T-Mobile said discussions with Apple are continuing and "updates will be provided as and when it is pertinent to do so".

In February, Vodafone's boss, Vittorio Colao, said: "Anything that improves the customer experience with mobile data is welcome and as such I would be very interested in having it."

The mobile phone companies want to be able to tie iPad pricing plans in with their existing tariffs. So a customer on a long-term iPhone contract, for instance, would get a sim card for their iPad for an additional monthly fee.

Apple, however, is understood to favour giving customers the ability to pay only for the mobile access they need, on a pre-pay basis.

As a result, O2, Orange and Vodafone are expected to offer both pre-pay and contract deals.

In the US, Apple's network partner, AT&T, is offering 250MB of data for $14.99 a month and unlimited data for $29.99, with no requirement for customers to sign long-term contracts.